Saving Margaret (2 page)

Margaret stared at her friend, who sounded like she was choking out the words. “Who’s Scott?” she asked, hesitantly.

“He’s a—”

“He’s an old army buddy of mine,” Chase cut off Sam, pressing a finger to his mate’s lips. “Scott will be very nice to your friend.”

An unfamiliar smell tickled her nose and she sniffed again.
What is that?

Chase waved a hand and she followed his gesture, her gaze landing on one of the biggest men she’d ever seen. And growing up with werewolves, a lot of guys were bigger than the average human. This guy made them look small.

And he was HOT! God, was he hot! Not only did he dwarf everyone in the room, but he had the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes and adorable dimples that would make any woman swoon. His short dark hair had a few curls at the front.

He met her gaze and she snapped her mouth closed so her tongue wouldn’t hang out.

The strange smell distracted her again and alarms started going off in her head.

It’s a bear. I smell a bear.

“That’s because he’s walking straight toward us.”
Her wolf laughed.

What!

He stopped and hugged Chase’s parents before joining the small group at the side of the dance floor. Apparently no one else was fazed that a bear just walked into a room full of wolves. They all sat at their tables chatting away and eating their cake.

“Margaret, meet Scott.” Chase gestured to the nearly seven-foot tall man standing before her. “Scott, this is Margaret, a very good friend of my wife’s. Will you make sure she doesn’t spend the evening alone at the table, hiding from everyone.”

“I would be delighted. I would’ve been here sooner if I’d known you were saving this little bit of heaven for me.”

Sam opened her mouth to comment, but was quickly hushed and pulled away by Chase.

Margaret craned her neck and took another peek at the man before her. She was five-foot-eight, but this giant made her feel like an elementary school kid.

“Would you like to dance, darl’n?” His sexy drawl just oozed charm.
Lady-killer for sure.
She didn’t care though. His smoldering dark eyes made her want to do naughty things to this man —this bear.

“He asked you a question,”
her wolf prodded.

“Oh! I…yes.”
He can do whatever he wants. Oh, my, God! What is wrong with me?

His hand slipped around her waist and slid into the curve of her lower back. The tips of his fingers caressed the top of her ass. It took all her willpower not to rub up against him like a cat in heat. Her whole body tingled with excitement.

“Mate. He smells like a mate.”

“He’s a bear.”

“Sorry?” his voice rumbled.

“I…Didn’t—I’m.” Her words wouldn’t form.
What the hell!
She hadn’t meant to say that last bit out loud. She shushed her wolf and looked up. He was grinning at her. That beautiful melt-you-into-a-puddle smile was working. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little surprised.”

“That I’m a bear? Or that you’re my mate?”

He’d felt the magick, too. Damn.
She gulped and ran her tongue along the inside of her teeth to make sure her mouth wasn’t hanging open.
Mate? No, I don’t think so. How is he so calm? I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin.

“He’s our mate.”

No! He’s a bear.

“It doesn’t matter.”

It will matter to my parents…and bears are scary.

“Not all bears are jerks. Give him a chance.”

The music ended and Scott propelled the beautiful and stunned creature away from the dance floor. The poor woman had barely been able to put two words together since he’d touched her. The magick between them was strong and he could feel the mate bond beginning to take shape. It wasn’t something he’d been expecting, especially not at his buddy’s wedding. She was a wolf, not a bear. But, it didn’t matter to him in the least. His family wouldn’t care either. His mom would just be happy that after nearly a century, her baby had finally found his mate.

Now, if he could just get the little female to loosen up a little.

“Would you like to walk outside with me?” He gave her a little push toward the French doors leading out onto a well-lit patio.

“Ours! Ours! We found her! Don’t you dare mess this up!”

Shut it!
He hushed his inner beast, which seemed to be more excited right now than he’d ever been his whole life.

“Sure,” she finally managed to squeak out. Her tiny body stood straight and gave a good impression of being in control, but he could feel the nervous tremors where his hand rested on her lower back. The urge to slide his palm lower was tempting, but he didn’t think it would help calm her at all.

He broke contact with her for a moment, slipping off his sport coat and then casually slid it over her bare shoulders. The March weather was nice, but it was still chilly, especially at night. They walked to the edge of the patio and looked out over the cityscape. Vegas was always lit up. He never got used to it. He preferred his Teton Mountain privacy —dark skies, thick forests, and no neighbors to be seen for miles.

“I take it our mate connection surprised you?”

She took a step back and met his gaze. The spark in her brown eyes brought his arousal up a notch. He wondered if that spark would carry over into the bedroom.

“Focus! You horny, bastard.”
The beast within jerked on his consciousness.

“No kidding,” she finally answered. “Maybe because I wasn’t expecting you to be a bear.”

“I don’t have a problem with being a bear.”

A laugh shook her slender frame. “No, I don’t suppose you have a problem being a bear.”

He grinned. At least she’d laughed. That was something. “Do you have a problem with me being a bear?”

“Yes.”

Well, shit. That’s not the answer I was expecting. I can smell her arousal. I know she’s interested.

“Just be nice.”

I am!

“Do I frighten you?” He leaned down and inhaled her fragrant vanilla scented body wash. She smelled good enough to eat. His mind wandered through the process of stripping her naked and tasting her. He had no doubt she would taste even sweeter.

“No,” she answered.

It was a lie. Her body tensed when he’d asked the question and he could smell a hint of fear in the pheromones she was releasing.

He sighed. “We are rarely violent. Usually only when threatened.”

“I’ve only met a couple of other bear shifters and they were not the nicest people.”

“Do you judge the entire werewolf community by the actions of a few?”

“No!” she state quickly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made that assumption. I’m just—”

“Nervous?” he whispered.

“Yes.” She nodded and leaned forward on the railing.

“Do you live here in Vegas? Does your family?”

“Yes, just east of the strip. I belong to the Taylor Pack.”

“You grew up with Chase?”

“No.” She shook her head. “His sister, Maggie.”

“Wait…I’ve heard about the infamous Maggie and Maggie.”

A soft laugh escaped her and a little more of the tension slid away. “Yes, everyone has heard about the Maggie’s. I go by Margaret now, though.”

He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek. “I like Margaret.” A barely audible whimper encouraged him further and he trailed soft kisses down the side of her neck. “I can’t wait to get you to the Tetons. You’ll love the forest. So much cooler than this godforsaken desert.”

She stepped back. Her facial expression morphed from disbelief to terror. Tension returned, thickening the air between them with the sickly scent of fear.

“Now you’ve done it!”
His bear growled.

She slid his jacket from her shoulders and tossed it at him, shaking her head. “I have to go. I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”

“Wait, Margaret…”

“You were moving at the speed of a charging grizzly bear. What did you expect?”

Not funny!

“I told you to stay focused.”

He hurried into the ballroom, but she’d disappeared.

I was focused.

“On you! Not on her. One little sound and scent of arousal and you completely forgot that she was scared only moments before. She’s not an unaware human who’s going to fall in bed with you after a few laughs and a charming smile or two. She’s a werewolf who has met a couple of mean bears. Weren’t you listening?”

She’s our mate.

“Not yet. Not if you scare her off.”

The warning in his bear’s voice was painfully clear.

A crossing between shifter species was rare, but not unheard of. Still, she could deny him and send him away, just like any other potential mate. He would be honor bound to accept her wishes, even though they would live in misery until both found another potential match…if they found one.

He couldn’t let that happen. There had to be some way to make this right.

***

She pressed the bathroom door closed and leaned against it. Her breathing was short, sporadic. Everything had been going smoothly until he had moved in and kissed her neck. His scent had overwhelmed her senses. Her wolf was screaming mate and he was whispering about taking her off to the forests of Utah.

Holy crap!

The urge to plaster her body against his was frightening. How could the magick pull so strongly in such a short time? Human’s joked about love at first sight, but the saying had probably been started by a couple of shifters. There was no way humans ever had to deal with emotions or hormones this powerful.

“Why are you in the bathroom?”

I needed a minute.

“We need to go back to our mate.”

No! He’s acting like I’m his for the taking already. Like I get no say in how this plays out, simply because we are good matches for a mating bond.

“Good? Sweetie, he is our perfect match. Those only come around once…if they come around at all.”

I have a life. A job. A career. What about that? Am I supposed to just drop everything because the hottest guy I’ve ever met walked through the door and said, ‘hey babe, your mine’?

Her wolf’s mirth rippled through her consciousness, settling her fears just a little. Sometimes it was nice to have an old soul to talk to about life, but sometimes it was like having a parent stuck in your head all day long.

“I heard that.”

Whatever.

Her breathing was slowing down. She straightened and walked to the mirror.

“You aren’t supposed to stop being who you are, but compromises can be made so everyone is happy with the arrangement.”

“You don’t think he was moving a little fast, talking about taking me back to the mountains? He just met me a half hour ago.”

“He was moving a little fast, yes. But, he’s a bear and used to getting exactly what he wants when he wants it. Couldn’t you feel the magick rolling off of him?”

Yes…it was a lot stronger than any alpha wolf I’ve met.

“Bears don’t live in packs, so they tend to all have very dominant personalities,”
her wolf added.

Margaret walked to the bathroom door and peered out. A few guests were milling about in the hallway, but no bear was in sight.

It would be lonely without the pack.

“He’s not going to lock you up in a hole and never let you out.”

You don’t know that.

“Yes, I do.”

She smiled and slipped out into the hallway. One deep inhalation declared he’d been there, but left a few minutes ago. She followed the now streaming group of guests to the doorway, grabbed a bag of birdseed, and found a place on the driveway next to Maggie.

“Hey! Where did you and Scott sidle off too?”

“Just help me hide if he comes around, please.”

Maggie caught her gaze and frowned. “Did he hurt you? I can smell him all over you.”

“No! I just—”

Margaret stopped at the sight of the lovesick Chris, still following Nicole Demakis around. But, what really took her by surprise was her lack of pain and disappointment over him not being her mate. The feelings had vanished. He was a friend. Nothing more. He was just Chase’s younger brother.
How did that change in a matter of minutes?

Cheering from the sidewalk outside, snapped her out of her thoughts. She glanced up just in time to see Chase and Sam scramble down the path, laughing as well-aimed birdseed pelted them in the face. Sam climbed into the waiting classic black Dodge Charger. Chase Michaels was just what Sam needed.

Now, if she could figure out her situation.

Hallie Demakis stepped next to them and sniffed. “What’s up with you and the bear?”

“What do you mean?” Margaret tried to act nonchalant.

A snort of laughter came from the Demakis twin. “Three o’clock, hon. He hasn’t been able to peel his eyes away. I could probably walk by naked and he wouldn’t even blink.”

Margaret bit her lip to hide a grin, looped one arm through Maggie’s elbow and the other through Hallie’s. A quick glance to her right made her quicken the pace. “Come on,” she growled, pulling the two women along. They darted in the open front door, around the corner, and back into the same ladies restroom she had hidden in earlier.

Hallie shook her arm free. “Why are we hiding in the bathroom from a hot guy? Granted, he’s a bear. But, still a really hot guy.”

“Yes, Margaret,” Maggie started, her brow raised suspiciously. “Why are we hiding from Scott?”

“Oh, hot guy has a name?” Hallie started walking to the door.

“Stop.” Margaret sighed. “Please just help me sneak out of here.”

Hallie shrugged and pulled open the door just a hair.

“Please tell her I need to speak with her.” His deep bass voice rumbled through the thin opening, making Margaret’s whole body shiver.

Her lady parts were contemplating the horizontal mambo while the rest of her was nearing panic level.
What the hell is wrong with me?

The door shut and Hallie pulled her phone out of her purse. Her fingers practically flew on the screen.

“Margaret, what is going on? Why don’t you want to talk to Scott?” Maggie leaned against the vanity countertop and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m afraid of what I’ll agree to, if I don’t get a little space to process…away from him.” Her shoulders sank. There it was. She was scared she’d agree to run off wherever this man wanted to take her. The bond pulled hard, and she just needed some distance so she could think clearly. Normally she was clear and level headed, but this guy had her upside down and her head was spinning.

“What do you mean? Agree to what?” Maggie’s face contorted, confusion evident in the one raised eyebrow.

“He’s her mate, Maggie. And a really strong match too, if she’s being pulled hard enough to freak her out.” Hallie stepped away from the door and dropped her phone back into her purse, snapping it shut. The click of the purse latch echoed though the still bathroom.